


Aftermath

by Celörith Támir (Bronze_Heart)



Category: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Angst, F/F, First Person Perspective, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-03
Updated: 2011-08-03
Packaged: 2017-10-22 04:21:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/233687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bronze_Heart/pseuds/Cel%C3%B6rith%20T%C3%A1mir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tifa gets a heavy weight off her chest.</p><p>Inspired by "Memories" by Within Temptation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aftermath

The sun isn't shining today. It won't grace us with its light and warmth, the clouds masking a hidden melancholy that lingered heavily in the air. People went about their business, trying to recover their lives after Midgar's destruction. Children ran and played in the streets, some of which have been orphaned after Meteorfall. They are the unfortunate few to have survived as the plates came crashing down overhead. These children were emotionally scarred, but even if they had been left alone in the world, all was not lost for them.

I took these children in, and made them part of my family, or as close to one as I could get anyway.

Meteor changed us. All of us. We were not the same after we came to our senses, realizing that our lives were not yet over. We could live to see another day, and the Planet would be able to heal itself. Our little misfit group was as tight-knit as they came, from the materia junkie, to the tea-drinking pilot, to the sinner, to the would-be SOLDIER. Our lives would be forever entwined. But, through all of the memories we shared during our grand adventure, there was one that we would all have in common.

You.

You changed all of us. I remember, the day we met, the day that forever changed my life. It was a special moment for me, and somehow... it was strange. I hadn't ever expected to meet someone from the slums who had retained her innocence while surrounded by the darkness, like you had. Your smile brightened people's lives, and the kindness you harbored knew no bounds. I was awed by just how easily you could forgive. That isn't very easy for most people; for you, it was like a gift. There was nothing you weren't truly afraid of, and that bravery cost you your life.

I envy you.

Isn't it funny though? I've always thought that envy was a much stronger version of jealousy. Now that I think deeper on it, jealousy and envy are two completely different things. I envy your boundless strength. You weren't physically strong, but what strength you had went much deeper than muscle. No matter how hard or how difficult the dangers we faced, you pressed on, pushing us through and guiding us in ways I wouldn't even begin to fathom. My inner strength is weaker compared to yours. I can't recall a time where I was the crutch or the guiding force of such a large group. I guess I'm just... there. Another person who wants to preserve the world and its vast beauty.

That's something you and the Planet have in common, I think, but I'm too embarrassed to admit that. It's more like... a secret I've kept inside for so long, but now that you're gone, maybe I can finally get it off my shoulders. Would you listen to me as I release these deep secrets? I'm sure you probably are. After all, you were always a wonderful listener.

I can't even begin to describe your beauty. You almost seemed... surreal - an angel bound to the earth until the day came when she could finally return to heaven. Yes, I always thought you were an angel in human form. I loved everything about you. Your melodic laugh. Your warm, inviting smile. Those expressive, bright emerald eyes. That pink bow in your hair. Cloud still has it, by the way, but it's hidden away in a 'memory box', along with several other important items you once kept. He doesn't like to get it out much, but I do. I like to take it out of its hiding place and be able to feel the things you wore, or the materia you once used. It gives me the feeling that you're still here... right here with me, like you never left.

You're still here with us. I can almost feel it; that familiar warmth deep inside me every time you're near. And I couldn't help it. Couldn't help my heart from pounding or the stutter in my voice as I spoke to you. And, it's like the saying goes, 'you don't know what you had until you lost it.' I guess that could be true, though I don't think so. I've not lost anything, not to the extent that Cloud has lost. From the moment I saw you return to the room after your little date with our ex-SOLD-- ahem, wannabe-SOLDIER, at Gold Saucer, I knew that love triangle of ours had changed. Something happened between the two of you that caused a shift. I noticed a gleam in your eyes, and it hadn't been for Cloud.

But, that's okay. You didn't have to tell me anything, because, somehow, I always knew, deep inside myself. I'm sure we might have had something if we'd not beaten around the bush and confessed our feelings... I regret not telling you that my heart had belonged to you the day we left Gold Saucer the second time. We just... ran out of time, and your duties as an Ancient wouldn't allow you another day. Do you feel that if for just one day, you could set aside your duties and just be selfish? I wish that. All the time. For that one day, I would've been able to get to know you, just as you wanted to get to know Cloud.

I've always liked you.

No... that isn't the right word to describe how I feel.

I've always **loved** you.

And, I don't want to be like Cloud. You gave us all a gift, so I want to cherish it. This is something that I don't want to throw away. So, since you're not here, then I will live.

For you.

You and only you.

I can feel the tears rolling down my cheeks now. It really is a wonderful feeling, and getting this off my chest has definitely taken the weight off me. My eyes are closed, and in the darkness, I see something. A pair of warm green eyes gaze right back at me, nostalgia and memories of months passed come flooding back to me. I don't know if it's you gracing me with your presence, or my mind playing tricks on me. I might never know. But, if those eyes are as warm as your smile, then I will never forget them, even till the day I die. You'll always have a special place in my heart, Aerith Gainsborough.

In the aftermath, I can still see the sun shining as bright as that smile, and I have faith.

I hope, in the Lifestream, your smiling as much as I am right now. That is my life's only wish: to know, that even in death, you are still smiling.


End file.
